De Ranke Guldenberg

Brewed by Brouwerij De Ranke
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Dottignies/Dottenijs, Belgium

(Bottle, Akkurat, Stockholm, 4 April 2008) Golden amber colour with frothy, brief, white head. Fruity, spicy, fairly dry nose with notes of caramel and citrus. Fruity, fairly dry taste with spices, apricots and orange. Nicely balanced, but wouldn’t suffer from a little more bite.

(3/2/08) Draught sample at Zythos Bier Festival 2008 in Sint Niklaas. Slightly hazy golden with a collapsing white head. Aroma of hops, fruits and a bit of yeast. Flavor starts a bit sweet with apples and some caramel and continues dry and hoppy with hints of grapefruit. Medium-bodied. Good stuff.

bottle shared at tasting. Thanks!
Pours a ligh hazy orange with a malty smell that is fresh and bright. Taste is dusty, well balanced and tame. Maltiness is moderate and the hops are perhaps slighlty more prominant actually. Somewhat dry. Decent beer.

Hazy yellow with a fine head. Yeasty aroma, and a sweet and floral flavour that reminds me of La Trappe trippel with yeast, spice and a grapelike finish. A nice one!

750 ml green champagne bottle. No freshness date seen. Paper wrapper on bottle. 11.2 oz. label on a 750 ml size bottle. Collector’s item? Anyway, crowned & corked. Poured out a hazy yellow color, with a humongous white head. Overflowed in my chalice. Aromas are of sour apples, citrus rind, sugars. Flavors are of tannic apple skins, fruity esters, citrus, sweet malts, slight yeast bite as well. Thick mouthfeel, rich & oily. Alcohol is well hidden in the flavors and aromas, but it sneaks up on you in a hurry. Decent take on the style overall.

On tap at Ebenezer’s. Crazy lacing that looked like thick high-atmosphere clouds. Not the cumulus clouds, the wispy ones way up there... Anyway. Aroma strong in white/green grape and apple. Flavor and body pretty light, got some bubble gum, light fruits, spices present but not overpowering. The light body wasn’t really thin though, and this also made it quite gulpable. Was shocked to see it was 8.5%, but I guess I should have learned by now never to be surprised by those crafty Belgians. I thought of it as a nice session brew as I was drinking it...but I guess I’ll amend that to nice way to start an afternoon.

Poured from bottle into trappist glass. Light golden hazy color. Very attractive. Large white head that dissipates rather quickly. Good lacing on the glass. Aroma of some hops, nice fruity aromas also. Flavor is dry due to the hops and also somewhat malty. Not too complex. Alcohol hidden quite well. Overall it was quite nice. Will try again to try and pick up some more complexity.

From 33cl bottle, best before 10/2012. Orange cloudy body with a puffy large head leaving a great lacing. Yeast and malts in the nose, very aromatic. Sweet malts with hints of citrics at first approach. It develops in mouth with a rather bitter hoppy finish. Lacks some complexity in the middle palate. Medium body with a low carbonation that fits well. An extremely nice beer that is close to greatness without really achieving it. Will need to re-rate.